The Brilliant Classics label again lives up to its name with a bargain box of
extraordinary quality and desirability.

In this 7 CD set, each disc provides a symphony and a bonus overture or tone
poem. Given that space was found for Tchaikovsky’s youthful programmatic
piece The Storm, I could wish that The Tempest had been included,
too, but that is currently available on another excellent bargain disc from
Regis
alongside Rostropovich’s earlier Rococo Variations and the Souvenir
de Florence. Otherwise, this is a remarkably comprehensive survey of Tchaikovsky’s
symphonic works by four of the greatest living Russian conductors, all born
in the 1930s, happily still with us, and directing some of the best British
orchestras. While it is perfectly possible to retain a preference for individual
recordings, no performance here is less than excellent. For example, Stokowski’s
celebrated 1958 Francesca da Rimini (reviewreview)
is a tour de force that will never be surpassed for dynamism, but the
version here by Simonov is still profoundly satisfying. Similarly, while I will
not be retiring Abbado’s early recordings of the Second and the Fourth
Symphonies with the VPO and the NPO respectively on DG, I would be happy to
live with the recordings here by Simonov and Rozhdestvensky. As a bargain box
this new issue could hardly be bettered.

Tchaikovsky’s symphonies are interpretatively tolerant of a wide variety
of tempi. There are what at first sight appear to be idiosyncratic choices from
the conductors here. This is especially true of Fedoseyev, who tends to extremes
in comparison with Markevitch in No.3 (review),
but one is not conscious of any excess while listening. This is the authentic
big Russian sound: grand, serious readings with profound emotion but never slipping
into sentimentality.

Obviously Rozhdestvensky’s readings of the “Big Three” form
the core of this collection. He has the advantage of the LSO in finest form
and, as with all the recordings here, finest digital sound. The horns in the
Andante cantabile of No.5 could hardly be dreamier or more seductive.
The rasp of the superb LSO brass in the opening movement of that symphony creates
a sombre, yet paradoxically thrilling, effect. Rozhdestvensky’s choices
of speed tend toward leisurely and his phrasing is weighty. As with Mravinsky’s
famous 1960 recordings on DG (review), every instrument is so characterful in
its interpretation of the notes, although Mravinsky does not enjoy modern sound.
Comparison with Sian Edwards’ Fifth on EMI makes her sound merely lugubrious
- and even there, as late as 1990, the recorded ambience is a bit muddy alongside
the clarity given to Rozhdestvensky.

His Fourth Symphony first appeared on Pickwick and was instantly welcomed as
a compelling reading. Everything is so purposeful and controlled without any
sense of calculation; he insists on the orchestra maintaining precise articulation
and builds the finale unerringly. This ensures that the listener enjoys the
physical thrill Tchaikovsky intended despite his vision of the work being considerably
more expansive than, say, Mravinsky’s more manic version.

That clarity and control harnessed to exuberant release is a virtue shared by
Simonov; I have never heard a more convincing account of the Second. Winter
Dreams is harder to pull off but Fedoseyev makes it a thing of both charm
and real substance.